Electronic data is often timestamped as it is collected from a data source. For example, logic analyzers and data capture buffers may be used to analyze the operation and logic of electronic circuits to evaluate their performance or to detect bugs. Logic analyzers and data capture buffers monitor and record the activity of an electronic signal by periodically capturing the value of the signal and storing the value with a timestamp indicating when it was captured. A typical timestamp thus indicates the time period between samples in a data set, although timestamps may be used for other purposes. Because each data sample has a timestamp, using a large number of bits for the timestamps can quickly fill an undesirably large amount of storage space. If the data samples are small, meaning that they are stored in just a few bits, then using large, high precision static timestamps can fill much more space than the data samples themselves.
In systems having limited storage space, such as embedded logic analyzers, this problem is often addressed by requiring the user to predict the time period range for a data collection operation. If too small a range is selected, the timestamps overflow and alias to incorrect values. If too large a range is selected, the precision of the timestamps may be too low, reducing the available timing information.